future Computers and Electronics

[Swansen]

Just some random thoughts of mine, but one i'm been thinking about in particular is high end gaming machines. Right now in the US we are limited to a kilowatt for power draw, unless you want to run a 220VAC line in your house. Yes, the performance segment of the computer industry is a fairly small one, but its still a fairly large obstacle, but i think a good one, as increasing power requirements for gaming machines are crazy.
Next is USB 3.0 and high definition video/image capturing, pretty much what i'm getting at here, is that USB 3.0 will be the sweetness.
Next i'm wondering whats going on with memory. From what i understand right now, there is very little different between DDR2 and DDR3, because of the increase in latency at every increase of memory speed. (however, it seems DDR5 seems to have a significant enough speed increase to offset other faults, but all we can see is GDDR, so who knows) I know there is faster memory already available, ie, XDR, so i wonder what will happen there as well. Yes, random stuff, but i just ponder a lot of stuff, those are a couple topics.

 

[Big B]

Depends if you have a 20A or 15A circuit. You can go up to a 1.6kW PSU, but that assumes there's nothing else on it.
As for upgrading your house wiring, it could be done, but given how long we've been running 120V/15-20A, and have subsequent devices based on this, it's not going to change. It'd be nice for efficiency, but I'm not sure what any negatives would be.

As when DDR, and DDR2 were introduced, DDR3 doesn't offer a compelling price/performance ratio immediately. Someone's got to start it, and someone's got to buy it, and it's nothing unusual. I picked up 2GB of DDR2 earlier this year for $50. My last memory upgrade was 1GB of DDR1 and cost me a little under $100. Yes, DDR3 is pricey right now, but in 2 years, it's should be rather inexpensive.

Not all memory types will make it into system RAM. It doesn't mean they're bad technologies, but they may not meet the requirements needed. Some, like SRAM, may be fast, but far too expensive, which is why they're used in CPU caches. A cheap system with, say 128MB of SRAM, might run $2,000, unlike decent ones that come with 2GB+ and might cost $500-600.

 

[Swansen]

lol, wait? are saying as long as you have nothing else on that circuit?? That there would require running a new circuit, so while your at it you might as well run a 220. I was just reading a requirement for a 1200w PSU that required a 220 input, and wouldn't work on 120.
Yes, cost, most definitely is a factor and as you said standards, but what i was getting at was performance? Which is something that constantly confused me in the computer world. From all that i have read, there is no real performance increase from DDR3 to DDR2 ? so why would you upgrade the standard then? For that matter, i think the same goes from DDR to DDR2.. Yeah, i know, money..

 

[jaggy]

Umm.. isn't a 20 AMP circut supposed to be 2200watts... of which 2000 watts you can safely use? (well it also depends on PSU efficiency and such but whatever)
...and with the way technology is progressing with speed they really should put more effort into making some stellar power conservative components rather than overload a god damned 20 AMP circut! I remember when computers would draw less power than a lightbulb.

 

[Big B]

However, most computers do not use multiple high-end video cards, the latest multi-core CPU, etc. There are those that do, but that's not typical. Additionally, you don't have to have the entire house rigged up for 220/240V. I have a 240V for my dryer straight from the box, but it's separate from the rest of the house that runs 120V. If I had an electric stove, you'd have something similar. Now, I'd guess that this is different than places with native 240V because it hijacks 2x 120V to make the 240V...but I would argue that you don't need to rig everything to 240V for one thing.

Companies showcase their top-end stuff as part of marketing. No, most people are not going to be purchasing a 1.6kW PSU. Most people will not be purchasing the top-end GeForce either. Most of us would love to, but can't or won't or don't need that sort of power.

Also, if you look at the development of chips, they start off with something that's a power hog at the top end. The next gen stuff has that same power available at the mid-range level with lowered power use. Additionally, the more complex a computation gets, the more power is needed to reasonably calculate that.

 

[Swansen]

Umm.. isn't a 20 AMP circut supposed to be 2200watts... of which 2000 watts you can safely use?

Didn't think about that, good point. Yes, i realize the gaming market is a small one, i stated that in my first post, and i realize that the extreme market that would require a kilowatt PSU is even smaller, i was just making a point. Straying a little, but something i was just thinking about, and how crazy it is. I'd imagine they have a circuit run just for their machines, i don't know, but my friends dad has 6? machines with a massive amount of storage that they use for storing movies and music that they can play anywhere throughout the house. Its just crazy, because something like that wouldn't have been very economical a couple years ago. (lol, not that it really is now in the long run ether, as you have a constant 1k 2K power drain, with current power costs)
On to memory, THIS HERE is what i'm talking about, why change your standard when there is ZERO purpose. Its just my frustration in the computer market, manufacturers release a product and the only purpose behind it is profit, and there being no other purpose. I feel that more people are starting to understand that now.

 

[Big B]

There is a purpose with DDR3: higher speeds with less voltage and less heat. Additionally, DDR3 supports hardware monitoring. No, most people don't need it, but at some point companies need to introduce a new product.

However, you also have to look at profitability. Companies typically produce a new product as part of it's business cycle. Competitors come along with something better, and if the first company doesn't keep going, it's user-base is going to eventually drop that product and go with something better.
If nVidia stopped coming up with something new after the 6800, ATi/AMD would've buried them by now. If Ford hadn't something new after the Model T, they'd probably not be around (not that I'd miss them :P).